For Craig Shoemaker, laughs will be in the past

Friday

Craig Shoemaker is pulling the plug on his career as a stand-up comic.

The Springfield, Montgomery County, native, who has been a comedian for 30 years, will play occasional dates, but those will be rare and tours will be history after this year.

“I’ve done it enough and I’m going to focus on other things,” Shoemaker says while calling from his Los Angeles home. “I have other projects on my plate.”

Shoemaker, 55, will primarily stay in L.A. The father of four, including a 2-year-old daughter, will bring Tony Luke’s to the land of In N Out Burger. He and Luke will open three of the iconic sandwich shops in La La Land.

“Tony has been a close friend for many years,” Shoemaker says. “People are going to love what Tony Luke does out here.”

How will the sandwich be replicated?

“We’re going to flash-freeze the bread,” he says. “If they can do it in Bahrain, we can do it going to Los Angeles.”

Shoemaker will also work with Nancy Glass Productions on five television projects that are in development.

One of the shows will be with his pal, Eagles long-snapper Jon Dorenbos, his wife, Julie, and her friend, Susie Celek, wife of Birds tight end Brent Celek.

The production is “Straight Eye For the Whipped Guy.”

“It’ll be a fun fashion show for guys,” Shoemaker says.

Speaking of Dorenbos, he’ll open for Shoemaker Saturday at the Sellersville Theater.

“Jon’s a magician and he’s a fascinating guy,” he says. ”I met him in December when I went to the Eagles-Vikings game in Minnesota and we really hit it off.”

Shoemaker is a rabid Phillies fan, and he routinely flies in for Sixers games (yes, he’s the one) since he’s close friends with 76ers play-by-play man Marc Zumoff.

“It was awesome watching them beat the Lakers this season, but they haven’t won much of anything lately,” Shoemaker says.

Expect him to joke about Philly sports and Philly in general this weekend. He’ll also do his classic “Lovemaster” routine one final time.

“It’s time to retire all of those old bits,” he says. “The crazy thing is that I’ve never been better as a stand-up. I’m leaving while I’m at my best. But I want to be there for my children. There’s nothing I enjoy as much as my children. I’m going to spend time with them and work on business interests.”

However, Shoemaker admits he might do one final Delaware Valley performance.

“I’m thinking about doing a club show for one last local show,” Shoemaker says. “But we’ll see. I’m about to get really busy.”